Girls beach volleyball continues with second season

By Kara Patman
Staff Writer

Beach volleyball has become a recent hit for the Mira Costa girls’ volleyball team. When spring starts to roll around, select players from the team head down to the shore to show off their skills.

Tryouts for the team are usually in January, but the actual season is from the end of March to the middle of May.

“Beach volleyball is fun because you still get to play the sport at the intensity of indoor, but you are at the beach and getting more of a workout,” Kernochan said.

The coaches for the team this year are Michelle Moriati, who played professionally all over the world and Eric Fanoimoana, who won an Olympic Gold Medal in the 2000 Olympics. The girls practice every Tuesday and Wednesday from 2:30-4:00.

“I prefer beach volleyball because you get more touches on each play since it’s only you and your partner,” Caputo said. “Not all indoor players can play beach volleyball since it requires the ability to move around more court than in indoors.”

There are tons of players in the South Bay that take beach volleyball very seriously. Last year was the first year that this sport became a CIF sport for Costa. The team finished second last year, which means they are ranked second this season.

“The difference between indoor and beach is that indoor you play in a gym with a team of six on the court, while beach volleyball is even more mentally and physically challenging with two players on the court,” Caputo said. “Beach volleyball requires more all-around skills of the game rather than just focusing on a specific position indoor.”

Beach volleyball matches usually consist of winning two out of three games. The first two games are to 21. If there is a tiebreaker, the third game will go to 15. The girls have tournaments most every Saturday. They play teams from all over including Palos Verdes, West Torrance, Redondo, Marymount, Harvard Westlake, Notre Dame, Oaks Christian, Foothills and Marlborough.

“The competition between my teammates is pretty intense,” Kernochan said. “There are only six people that play at each tournament, and there are 12 girls on the team. This helps us try harder and push each other, but actually brings us closer together too.”